'Green' burials: Biodegradable caskets, no artificial flowers

KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- The first plot has been sold in a Lawrence, Kan., cemetery that offers the departed a chance to be buried without being embalmed, in a biodegradable casket, with no concrete grave liner or traditional headstone.

When the Lawrence City Commission decided to set aside about a third of an acre in its Oak Hill Cemetery for "green" funerals, the college town with an environmentally friendly reputation joined a growing trend.

In Lawrence, the green burial area of Oak Hill Cemetery is on a wooded hillside, where plots were laid out around the trees. The city installed some natural log benches for visitors.

In the natural burial section, visitors will not see artificial flowers, ornaments or other grave decorations. Headstones can be only natural rocks. Wildflowers and grasses will grow over the graves, eventually returning the area to its natural habitat.

The section is tucked away in a 45-acre cemetery where up to 10,000 people have been buried since the cemetery opened in 1865.

About 50 plots are available, but the area could be expanded to an additional five to 10 acres, said Mitch Young, cemeteries supervisor for the city's Park and Recreation Department. Although only one plot has sold since they became available in January, Young said several people have come to see the site.

Larry McElwain, co-owner of Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence, expects demand to grow.

"This is really the front edge and a lot of people don't know yet what (green burial) means," McElwain said. "We've had a lot of questions. I think it will definitely grow over time."

Funeral directors and city officials had several questions of their own when the idea first came up. McElwain said maintenance, logistical, legal, safety and aesthetic issues all had to be addressed.

For example, how do you get a body into the ground if the family doesn't want the traditional motorized lowering device? How do you safely get the body to a wooded, hilly grave site? And do you use heavy machinery to dig?